Mixer with Mixers

[ginger_firebird]

Nothing, and Mantis will attest to the fact, absolutely nothing in the multiverse ever makes life feel so much better as a bit of alcohol to get the blocked-up words flowing. He’s chilling on a stool at one of the local bars in the Nexus, merrily watching people he’s met congregate like a bunch of cats ready to caterwaul into the wee hours of the night. From an outsider perspective, the gathered crowd of friends and acquaintances must surely say something about who he is as a person and the kind of people hegets along with, but such is not the topic of the night. Nay, this is a wake of a different kind to toast the demise of a she-devil that they’ve all either fought or heard of enough to have strong opinions about. Shots abound, ye merry fellowship, for the witch is dead.

Mantis is sitting with Francour cuddled up in a scarf. The needy little espurr absolutely suffers without a continued assurance that Mantis will always be around, and curious eyes scan the crowd as he gets idle scritches from his progressively drunk human.

Comments

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Here to celebrate, too, Soundwave? Honerva's gone. Her threat to the Nexus and the people here is over. I can't say it was a clean victory, but at the end of the day we're here and she's not."

Ben smiles a ragged smile when he hears Soundwave introduce himself, and nods in reply.

"Lotor's safe? That's good. Once I learned that it went from Hiroki to all our visitors from that universe, I was concerned that he'd vanished, too. I suppose that means he's free from his parents for good. It's a pity we lost contact with Hiroki and his people, but we take silver linings where we find them. I assume he's still in Glit's care?"

Ben knows how important Lotor was to Glit - he himself has tried to help poke the boy's moral compass in the right direction as best he can, but Glit was the one who took Lotor in.

[soundwave_ascendant]

"Glit and I are going to have a talk in the morning, because there are things Glit needs to take care of if he's going to be a parent. But Glit is going to adopt him. Legally." Soundwave smiles tiredly.

"Major Tom thinks Honerva may actually have destroyed her entire dimension, so it's a good thing that Lotor fought whatever tried to take him. Apparently she threatened to do that before. He did disappear--and Glit was absolutely out of his mind--but Rumble and Frenzy were up to absolutely no good in the Wilds today, and fortunately, they found him a little while later."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I thought it was my fault. I was the one who called on the angels to help drive her away, and protect Ziggy's family, among others, from her." Ben's relived that Lotor's care will be in good hands.

"I was warned that her powers are that strong. It's why I didn't dare hunt her down and confront her on my own - though I would have liked to if our powers had been more equal. I hope for the sake of the people of that universe that the portal was merely closed permanently. What she did to Hiroki was just similar enough to what was done to me to upset me a lot."

[soundwave_ascendant]

Soundwave pats Ben's shoulder a little awkwardly. "If it's anyone's fault, Ben...it was hers. She chose to do what she did. You told us about her, and I'm certain that if she had come here again, she would've been sent packing."

He frowns. "Especially now that I understand Megatron will be joining us here. He and I have had our differences, although we're working on sorting those out. But even when things were at their worst between the two of us, I would have been first to say he's one of the best to have on your side in a fight."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I'm just sorry she wasn't taken out before she could do more damage." Ben grumbles a little. "Ziggy's hurt. I wasn't as close to Hiro as some, but Rey and I offered to help him. Lotor's better off in the Nexus, and I'm glad she's gone, but the price was high."

"My history in my world isn't what I'd call good, but I'm useful in a fight. I like to think I'd have given her a run for her money or at least tried. But all of us working together would have had her for sure. That's probably why she ran back to her world and shut the door - she probably figured out that she'd be facing dangerous opposition here."

[soundwave_ascendant]

"I know about Ziggy," Soundwave says quietly. "Poor kid. I don't know if they were as close as Ravi and I, but...the thought of separation is upsetting. I'm closer to his parents. Tom and I were talking about it by Pinpoint earlier. I was going to go over there when Glit was falling apart and see if they could help each other, but Tom said that from what he knew of my sensory issues, I wouldn't be able to help.

"Then... Rumble and Frenzy found Lotor out in the Wilds, where they had been up to no good, and brought him back. Lotor said he felt something trying to grab him and resisted it. So there was something or someone behind it."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I don't have sensory issues like you do, but Ziggy's intense and I'm sensitive to others' thoughts from somebody that strong. So I suspect some of his grief rubbed off on me while I was visiting the family. I'll be fine - I just need to get myself looking presentable after a few drinks. I look like a mess." Ben shakes his head. "They were bonded in some way. I'm not an expert on their species, but they bond with their chosen mates."

"Sounds like it could've been Honerva behind this, not just this place closing the portal on its own. She could've both wanted to block reinforcements and try to take Lotor back. I can only hope the universe wasn't destroyed outright, but there's no way to check."

[soundwave_ascendant]

"I would just like to be sure that she is dead," Soundwave says. "Someone who would break the bond between a mated pair for the sake of experimentation. Like Ratbat. Deserves to be. Someone who treats their own children like that, also."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I...don't know, though that's not the answer we want." Ben shrugs glumly. "With the portal closed, unfortunately, there's a good chance we'll never know. But if it was her trying to take him back by force, Lotor chose to stay with Glit, and with you."

[soundwave_ascendant]

Soundwave nods. "It's not his choice I'm doubting; it's whether or not she has other ways to go about her perfidy. I'm worried about them both. Lotor needs Glit, bit Glit needs Lotor, too."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I hope we've heard the last of her, given how many people she's hurt." Ben shudders a little. "But if she does come back, I'm still confident all of us together could send her off. She's scared of us. That's why she fled rather than fight us."

[soundwave_ascendant]

"Good." Soundwave ex-vents. "Glit's filing papers in the morning. He'll formally be adopting Lotor, and Lotor will be a citizen of Destron. If it weren't for the number of duplicate individuals that appear to turn up now--how many Lokis do we have now? I'd be issuing a shoot on sight order for her to every Decepticon under our banner."

At that he smiles wryly. "Weird as the number of Lokis here is, it's probably weirder for Megatron."